The past three articles in this series have highlighted the strengths of
scripting languages. They're interactive and dynamic, and allow you to
experiment, debug and prototype solutions quickly. However, the most common
response when I speak to die-hard Java fanatics is, "Yeah, but I'll have to
learn another language and I already know Java" (I consider myself a die-hard
Java fanatic to a degree).
To be honest, this is a barrier that most won't cross. But what if you could
have the best of both worlds? What if you could have your cake and eat it
too?
Well, in a sense you can. You can use a Java-like scripting language. Now
when I say that, most of you were probably thinking JavaScript. (Admit it.)
But I'm not talking about JavaScript.
Java and JavaScript have a similar syntax, both deriving from C/C++. However,
the way that JavaScript defines methods, event handler... (more)
What This Series Is About
This article is Part 3 of an interactive series that discusses the many
languages that compile and/or run on the Java platform. Java Developer's
Journal invites you to vote for your favorite non-Java programming language
in the JDJ forum. Your vote will decide which languages will be covered by
the series, and in what order. A lot of languages work in the JVM, but this
series will cover only the most popular, as determined by your votes. To
vote: Go to the top of the JDJ Web page and click the forum graphic. Click
the "Enter the JDJ Developer's Forum" li... (more)
Interview...with Mike Cowlishaw
Creator of NetRexx
R. Hightower: Have you considered an open- source license?
M. Cowlishaw: Until recently the licensing issues seemed something of a
minefield with so many different ideas on what open source should be. Also,
my translator/compiler is very much a research scaffolding (for example, it
has hooks, which look like dead code, for multiple input syntaxes). At the
moment I'm (finally) implementing the interpreter pathways, which is very
much a work in progress; this sort of thing is much easier to do when only
one person is working on the ... (more)
What This Series Is About
This article is Part 2 of a series that discusses the many languages that
compile and/or run on the Java platform. This is an interactive series. Java
Developer's Journal invites you to vote for your favorite non-Java
programming language in the JDJ Forum. Your vote will decide which languages
will be covered by the series, and in what order. The last time I checked,
JPython and NetRexx were neck and neck. NetRexx, though not mentioned
previously, will be covered in the next article.
There are some great languages that I didn't mention last month, but as ... (more)
Part 4 of a series discussing the many languages that compile and/or run on
the Java platform
Do you remember the operating system religious wars? Mac OS versus Windows,
Windows NT versus UNIX, OS/2 versus Windows NT. Or how about the text editor
wars VI versus Emacs? It may seem silly for programmers to become involved
so passionately with the technology they work with, but if you spend more
time with your VI text editor than with your family, I guess you do get kind
of attached. I'm certain, for example, that we all have our favorite
programming language....
Recently, for e... (more)